Evan Silva

Matchups

Silva's Week 2 Matchups

Matt Ryan exhibited a distinct lack of velocity and ball placement in the Falcons’ Opening Day defeat, balloonballing floaters ala late-career Peyton Manning and converting just 48.8% of his attempts, Ryan’s lowest single-game completion rate since December of 2011. As a 2018 Ryan optimist, I’m chalking up his struggles to an especially humid night in Philadelphia. (Nick Foles’ balls didn’t come out hot, either.) Beginning with most recent, Ryan’s last five yardage/touchdown/interception totals against Ron Rivera’s Panthers are 317/1/0 > 313/2/1 > 277/2/0 > 503/4/1 > 306/1/0, productive enough to put Ryan on the right side of the QB1/2 fringe. Ryan’s box scores can benefit from the Falcons’ crippling defensive losses of MLB Deion Jones (foot) and SS Keanu Neal (ACL), enhancing shootout-game probability. … Devonta Freeman exited Week 1 with a third-quarter aggravation of the right MCL/PCL injury he played through down last year’s stretch. He's been ruled out, setting up Tevin Coleman for a near-full workload against Thomas Davis-less Carolina. Normally stout in run defense, the Panthers surrendered an efficient 16/74/4.63/1 rushing line to Cowboys backs in Week 1. Coleman should have a 17-touch floor as a six-point home favorite. Over Coleman's last four games where he met or exceeded that 17-touch threshold, Tevin logged touch/yardage/touchdown results of 19/97/2 > 21/58/1 > 21/88/1 > 18/110/0. He’s a high-end RB2.

Ryan’s Week 1 targets: Julio Jones 19; Mohamed Sanu 6; Freeman 5; Austin Hooper 4; Coleman, Calvin Ridley 2. … Julio ran 48 routes in Week 1 – more than he did in any 2017 game – and drew a team-high three red-zone targets, including two inside the ten. He narrowly missed two TDs, but it was elite WR1 usage with a league-high 282 Air Yards. Jones’ last five receiving lines against Rivera’s secondary are 5/80/0 > 6/118/0 > 4/60/0 > 12/300/1 > 9/178/1. He’s a top-three WR1 play. … Sanu’s 45 routes were also more than he ran in any 2017 game, confirming he remains far ahead of Ridley as Atlanta’s No. 2 wideout. Sanu has faced Rivera’s defense four times since joining the Falcons, logging 7/71/0 > 3/23/1 > 3/56/0 > 2/22/0 results. As usual, he’s a touchdown-or-bust WR4. … Ridley played 64% of Atlanta’s Week 1 snaps to assert himself as the No. 3 receiver, but he drew just two targets and failed to reel in either, finishing with the fourth-most Air Yards (20) on the team. He’ll need a Julio or Sanu injury to become relevant. … Hooper’s 41 routes were also more than he ran in any 2017 contest, but he failed to exceed 50 yards for the 18th straight game. Only the Saints (577) gave up fewer yards to tight ends than the Panthers (585) last year. They limited Hooper to 3/36/0 and 3/35/0 in two meetings. Carolina held Cowboys TEs to 3/18/0 last week.

Cam Newton has struggled as a passer in five straight meetings with Dan Quinn’s Falcons, managing yards/TD/INT totals of 180/1/3 > 137/0/0 > 198/1/2 > 165/1/0 > 142/0/0. He's salvaged fantasy value with rushing lines of 11/59/0 > 9/86/1 > 8/36/0 > 5/30/0 > 7/46/1. Promisingly, first-year OC Norv Turner used Cam aggressively on the ground in Week 1 (13/58/1) after vowing in the offseason to continue to feature his greatest strength. Minus RT Daryl Williams (knee), TE Greg Olsen (foot), and RG Trai Turner (concussion), Newton’s rushing prowess figures to remain his primary means of Week 2 production. It helps that Atlanta’s defense is extremely shorthanded without difference-makers MLB Deion Jones (foot) and SS Keanu Neal (ACL). … Christian McCaffrey’s every-down preseason usage carried over into Week 1, where he matched a career high by playing 85% of Carolina’s snaps, led the team in targets (9), and out-touched C.J. Anderson 16 to 7. “CMC” was vultured twice at the goal line – once by Cam and later by FB Alex Armah – but did handle two carries inside the ten. Quinn’s defense has yielded the NFL’s most running back catches in three straight years, including 5/40/0 and 5/28/0 receiving lines to McCaffrey in 2017. McCaffrey’s matchup is upgraded by Atlanta’s loss of Jones, who is Quinn’s version of Bobby Wagner. PFF’s Scott Barrett noted that Jones had coverage responsibility on 39 running back targets last year, third most among NFL defenders. McCaffrey even popped as this week's No. 1 buy-low running back in Josh Hermsmeyer's predictive Air Yards model.

Newton’s Week 1 target distribution: McCaffrey 9; Devin Funchess and Jarius Wright 5; Olsen, Torrey Smith, and Ian Thomas 2; D.J. Moore 0. … Funchess stands out as the top beneficiary of Olsen’s loss after averaging 7.8 targets for 81.0 yards with four TDs in Olsen’s last five missed games. Funchess’ two stat lines against the Falcons last season were 5/86/0 and 2/48/1. Last week, Funchess would have tied McCaffrey for the team lead in targets if not for penalties that negated four of his looks. An underrated WR2/3 play, big-bodied Funchess (6’4/232) should quickly reemerge as Cam’s go-to guy in the red zone. … Smith was Carolina’s No. 2 receiver in Week 1, logging 76% of the offensive snaps to slot man Wright’s 46% and No. 4 wideout Moore’s 25% clip. None of them cleared 25 yards in the opener, and nor is any of them worth rostering in season-long leagues. The Falcons’ defensive bread and butter is limiting big plays after allowing the NFL’s eighth-fewest completions of 20-plus yards in 2017, then yielding zero 20-plus-yard pass plays to Nick Foles in Week 1. … Fourth-round TE Thomas will replace Olsen after a strong training camp to face a Falcons defense that will badly miss SS Neal. Thomas averaged 15.0 yards per catch as a senior at Indiana and posted the No. 2 SPARQ score in this year’s tight end class, behind only Mike Gesicki. Albeit not quite a trustworthy Week 2 streamer, Thomas is a deep-league and Dynasty hold.

Score Prediction: Falcons 27, Panthers 24

Editor's Note: If you love Fantasy Football you have to be playing on DRAFT. It's daily fantasy football snake drafts instead of salary caps. All the fun of season long drafts but with no management and they last for just one week. They take minutes to complete and there's even auction drafts! No more setting lineups or constantly worrying about pros, just draft and win! Right now DRAFT is giving Rotoworld readers an exclusive FREE entry into a real money draft when you make your first deposit! Here's the link

LA Chargers @ BuffaloTeam Totals: Chargers 25, Bills 18

The Bills will turn to raw rookie Josh Allen after Nathan Peterman bombed Week 1, throwing two picks and failing to generate a single first down in the first half before getting benched for Allen in garbage time. Buffalo did Allen a major disservice by surrounding him with the league’s worst supporting cast, including a bottom-three offensive line and receivers that don’t get open. Even after it was carved up by Patrick Mahomes, the Chargers’ D/ST is one of this week’s top opponent-based streamers. … Due to his sad-sack teammates, LeSean McCoy’s opener couldn’t have gone much worse. He managed 21 yards on eight touches before taking a seat in the second half of Buffalo’s blowout loss. Optimists can point to Chargers RE Joey Bosa (foot) and DT Corey Liuget’s (suspension) continued absences after Los Angeles surrendered a middling 20/81/4.05/0 rushing line to Chiefs running backs last week. Until the Bills’ offense demonstrates any semblance of functionality, however, McCoy will remain a high-risk RB2. … Not a single Bills pass catcher cleared 30 receiving yards in Week 1, and Allen’s longstanding accuracy woes are unlikely to provide a quick fix. Kelvin Benjamin and Charles Clay are bench material at best.

Philip Rivers emerged from Week 1 with top-three QB1 production, but his day could have been far bigger if not for several big-play drops. The glass-half-full takeaway is those opportunities were there in the first place. Buffalo fielded one of the league’s best pass defenses in 2017, but it didn’t carry over to Week 1. RCB Phillip Gaines got fried by Michael Crabtree and John Brown, and rookie slot CB Taron Johnson left with a shoulder injury. Pass-rush specialist Shaq Lawson pulled his hamstring. Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes for the first time since 2016. Rivers is a solid QB1 bet. … Melvin Gordon “lost” 10 touches on 27% of the snaps to change-up back Austin Ekeler, but Gordon turned 24 touches of his own into 166 yards. Coach Anthony Lynn spoke in the offseason of increasing Gordon’s receiving usage and made good on that promise; Gordon ran 36 pass routes, his most since last Week 5. The Bills allowed the NFL’s most fantasy points to running backs last season, then served up rushing scores to three different Ravens backs in Week 1. Gordon remains an elite RB1 play. Ekeler is a PPR flex option.

Rivers’ Week 1 target distribution: Gordon 13; Keenan Allen 11; Mike Williams 6; Ekeler, Tyrell Williams, and Travis Benjamin 5; Antonio Gates 3; Virgil Green 2. … Allen ran 60% of his Week 1 routes in the slot, where he will draw Bills fill-in slot CB Rafael Bush, a third safety/special teamer who allowed Willie Snead’s 13-yard score off the bench last week. It's a lopsided mismatch in Allen’s favor. … Mike’s final Week 1 box score (5/81/0) was decent on paper, but Rivers barely even looked at him until what amounted to garbage time against the Chiefs. He also got out-snapped (54%) by Tyrell (76%) and Benjamin (57%). Tyrell added to Los Angeles’ misery by dropping a 40-yard touchdown bomb, and Benjamin dropped a 29-yard score. Benjamin's (foot, questionable) absence would elevate the outlook for both Williamses as WR3/flex plays. Based on where they lined up in Week 1, Mike is the likeliest Charger to draw stingy Bills LCB Tre'Davious White. … Gates was eased in after rejoining the team late in camp, logging a 40% playing-time clip with targets on just three of Rivers’ 52 dropbacks. He has a friendly Week 2 matchup against a Bills defense that yielded 9/103/0 to Ravens tight ends last week, but Gates will remain a touchdown-or-bust streamer until his snaps and targets pick up.

Score Prediction: Chargers 20, Bills 14

Editor's Note: Looking for a weekly edge in your fantasy leagues? Get the Rotoworld Season Pass for projections, early-week rankings, WR & RB reports, exclusive columns and chats with our experts and much more for just $19.99.

Minnesota @ Green BayTeam Totals: N/A

Aaron Rodgers played much of the 2016 season with a hamstring injury that confined him to the pocket, yet he still led the league in touchdown passes (40) and threw for 4,428 yards, third most of his career. Rodgers became a more-structured, less-random player, meaning fewer of his trademark rollout bombs but improved down-to-down consistency as a pure pocket passer. This is relevant because Rodgers’ knee injury may limit his mobility for multiple weeks. More worrisome is his Week 2 matchup. Since Mike Zimmer took over as Vikings head coach in 2014, Rodgers has managed yardage/touchdown/interception totals of 347/4/0 > 213/1/1 > 291/1/1 > 212/2/0 > 209/2/0 > 156/3/0 in six meetings. Rodgers remains an every-week QB1 in season-long leagues, but expectations should be lowered considering his substandard health and difficult opponent. If the Packers start raw sophomore DeShone Kizer, the passing game would take a crippling hit. … Jamaal Williams led Green Bay’s backfield in Week 1 touches (15) against the Bears, but he lost more playing time than expected to Ty Montgomery (38%) because the Packers were forced to play from behind. Williams now draws a stingy Vikings defense that limited 49ers running backs to 23/84/3.65/0 rushing last Sunday. Williams’ lack of a full-time role and matchup push him to the bottom of the RB2 bin. More-explosive teammate Aaron Jones returns from suspension in Week 3.

Rodgers’ Week 1 targets: Randall Cobb 10; Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison 8; Jimmy Graham 4; Montgomery 3; Williams 2. … Coming off a monster opener (9/142/1), Cobb may again be Green Bay’s best means of moving the chains against the Vikings, who are using rookie Mike Hughes at slot corner. Hughes picked off Jimmy Garoppolo in the opener, but also gave up a 39-yard gain to 49ers rookie Dante Pettis. Cobb ran the fifth-most slot routes in the league (32) in Week 1 and gained 133 yards inside. He’s a solid WR2. … Adams is sure to get Xavier Rhodes treatment after the Vikings’ top corner put an Opening Day blanket on Pierre Garcon (2/21/0). Rodgers is willing to throw to Adams even when he’s “covered,” however, and Adams did eke out a 5/54/1 stat line last Week 6 with Rhodes following him. Still, there is no getting around the fact that this sets up as one of Adams’ toughest matchups all year. Adams also emerged from last week’s win with a shoulder injury, but it won't keep him out. … Allison confirmed his stranglehold on third receiver duties versus Chicago, playing 70% of the snaps, tying Adams for second in targets, producing a 5/68/1 stat line, and drawing the Packers’ lone target inside the ten. With Rhodes chasing Adams, Allison is a sleeper for another big game. … Graham flopped (2/7/0) against a Chicago defense that excels in tight end coverage. The Vikings sprung leaks there last week, giving up 90 yards to George Kittle. And Kittle could’ve had a much bigger game if not for a dropped would-be 80-yard score and Jimmy Garoppolo’s end-zone miss from four yards out. It may be time to worry if Graham doesn’t pick it up this week.

Although Latavius Murray wound up with 11 carries, Dalvin Cook operated as the Vikings’ Week 1 lead back while the game was in doubt, logged 80% of Minnesota’s offensive snaps, parlayed 22 touches into 95 yards, and drew seven targets to Murray’s none. Murray remains a threat to Cook’s short-yardage and goal-line work, but not Cook’s workhorse role. Green Bay’s defense struggled to contain Bears backs last Sunday night, surrendering a 20/107/5.35/0 rushing line to Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, who also combined for eight receptions. Cook is a fringe RB1 play at Lambeau Field. … Kirk Cousins was sharp in his Vikings debut, chipping away at the 49ers’ defense with passes to Cook before completing the Throw of the Week on a gorgeously-placed 22-yard touchdown to Stefon Diggs and later connecting with Kyle Rudolph from 11 yards out. Cousins’ Week 2 matchup is not quite as friendly, however, facing a Packers defense that sacked Mitchell Trubisky four times in the opener and held him below five yards per pass attempt, although Trubisky’s struggles were much of his own doing. This game does offer high-scoring potential, and Cousins’ weapons give him big upside each week. He’s a confident QB1 play.

Cousins’ Week 1 target distribution: Adam Thielen 12; Cook 7; Stefon Diggs 6; Laquon Treadwell 4; Kyle Rudolph 2. … Thielen took a commanding Opening Day lead to reassert himself as Minnesota’s No. 1 receiver, leading the team in targets by a wide margin and drawing 157 Air Yards, seventh most in the league. Thielen is Josh Hermsmeyer's No. 1 Air Yards buy-low target after underperforming his Week 1 opportunity share. Thielen did run 67% of his routes in the slot and will mainly face rookie slot CB Jaire Alexander, whom PFF charged with the highest Week 1 passer rating allowed (102.1) among Packers cornerbacks. Thielen is a legitimate WR1. … Diggs is also a good bet to win his matchups against LCB Kevin King and RCB Tramon Williams. Williams is 35 years old, while King (6’3/200) is a plus-sized, Seahawks-style cornerback sure to struggle with Diggs’ quicks. … Rudolph’s two Week 1 targets were at least mildly concerning, although the 49ers’ tight end coverage is vastly underrated with Jaquiski Tartt healthy, and Rudolph was the recipient of one of Cousins’ two red-zone targets, which he turned into an 11-yard TD. Rudolph ran 33 routes, 12th most among NFL tight ends. Ultimately, Rudolph is unlikely to produce high-volume catch and yardage totals. He’ll make his money in the red zone, where Rudolph has always been at his best.

Score Prediction: Vikings 27, Packers 23

1:00 PM ET Games

Carolina @ AtlantaTeam Totals: Falcons 25, Panthers 19

Matt Ryan exhibited a distinct lack of velocity and ball placement in the Falcons’ Opening Day defeat, balloonballing floaters ala late-career Peyton Manning and converting just 48.8% of his attempts, Ryan’s lowest single-game completion rate since December of 2011. As a 2018 Ryan optimist, I’m chalking up his struggles to an especially humid night in Philadelphia. (Nick Foles’ balls didn’t come out hot, either.) Beginning with most recent, Ryan’s last five yardage/touchdown/interception totals against Ron Rivera’s Panthers are 317/1/0 > 313/2/1 > 277/2/0 > 503/4/1 > 306/1/0, productive enough to put Ryan on the right side of the QB1/2 fringe. Ryan’s box scores can benefit from the Falcons’ crippling defensive losses of MLB Deion Jones (foot) and SS Keanu Neal (ACL), enhancing shootout-game probability. … Devonta Freeman exited Week 1 with a third-quarter aggravation of the right MCL/PCL injury he played through down last year’s stretch. He's been ruled out, setting up Tevin Coleman for a near-full workload against Thomas Davis-less Carolina. Normally stout in run defense, the Panthers surrendered an efficient 16/74/4.63/1 rushing line to Cowboys backs in Week 1. Coleman should have a 17-touch floor as a six-point home favorite. Over Coleman's last four games where he met or exceeded that 17-touch threshold, Tevin logged touch/yardage/touchdown results of 19/97/2 > 21/58/1 > 21/88/1 > 18/110/0. He’s a high-end RB2.

Ryan’s Week 1 targets: Julio Jones 19; Mohamed Sanu 6; Freeman 5; Austin Hooper 4; Coleman, Calvin Ridley 2. … Julio ran 48 routes in Week 1 – more than he did in any 2017 game – and drew a team-high three red-zone targets, including two inside the ten. He narrowly missed two TDs, but it was elite WR1 usage with a league-high 282 Air Yards. Jones’ last five receiving lines against Rivera’s secondary are 5/80/0 > 6/118/0 > 4/60/0 > 12/300/1 > 9/178/1. He’s a top-three WR1 play. … Sanu’s 45 routes were also more than he ran in any 2017 game, confirming he remains far ahead of Ridley as Atlanta’s No. 2 wideout. Sanu has faced Rivera’s defense four times since joining the Falcons, logging 7/71/0 > 3/23/1 > 3/56/0 > 2/22/0 results. As usual, he’s a touchdown-or-bust WR4. … Ridley played 64% of Atlanta’s Week 1 snaps to assert himself as the No. 3 receiver, but he drew just two targets and failed to reel in either, finishing with the fourth-most Air Yards (20) on the team. He’ll need a Julio or Sanu injury to become relevant. … Hooper’s 41 routes were also more than he ran in any 2017 contest, but he failed to exceed 50 yards for the 18th straight game. Only the Saints (577) gave up fewer yards to tight ends than the Panthers (585) last year. They limited Hooper to 3/36/0 and 3/35/0 in two meetings. Carolina held Cowboys TEs to 3/18/0 last week.

Cam Newton has struggled as a passer in five straight meetings with Dan Quinn’s Falcons, managing yards/TD/INT totals of 180/1/3 > 137/0/0 > 198/1/2 > 165/1/0 > 142/0/0. He's salvaged fantasy value with rushing lines of 11/59/0 > 9/86/1 > 8/36/0 > 5/30/0 > 7/46/1. Promisingly, first-year OC Norv Turner used Cam aggressively on the ground in Week 1 (13/58/1) after vowing in the offseason to continue to feature his greatest strength. Minus RT Daryl Williams (knee), TE Greg Olsen (foot), and RG Trai Turner (concussion), Newton’s rushing prowess figures to remain his primary means of Week 2 production. It helps that Atlanta’s defense is extremely shorthanded without difference-makers MLB Deion Jones (foot) and SS Keanu Neal (ACL). … Christian McCaffrey’s every-down preseason usage carried over into Week 1, where he matched a career high by playing 85% of Carolina’s snaps, led the team in targets (9), and out-touched C.J. Anderson 16 to 7. “CMC” was vultured twice at the goal line – once by Cam and later by FB Alex Armah – but did handle two carries inside the ten. Quinn’s defense has yielded the NFL’s most running back catches in three straight years, including 5/40/0 and 5/28/0 receiving lines to McCaffrey in 2017. McCaffrey’s matchup is upgraded by Atlanta’s loss of Jones, who is Quinn’s version of Bobby Wagner. PFF’s Scott Barrett noted that Jones had coverage responsibility on 39 running back targets last year, third most among NFL defenders. McCaffrey even popped as this week's No. 1 buy-low running back in Josh Hermsmeyer's predictive Air Yards model.

Newton’s Week 1 target distribution: McCaffrey 9; Devin Funchess and Jarius Wright 5; Olsen, Torrey Smith, and Ian Thomas 2; D.J. Moore 0. … Funchess stands out as the top beneficiary of Olsen’s loss after averaging 7.8 targets for 81.0 yards with four TDs in Olsen’s last five missed games. Funchess’ two stat lines against the Falcons last season were 5/86/0 and 2/48/1. Last week, Funchess would have tied McCaffrey for the team lead in targets if not for penalties that negated four of his looks. An underrated WR2/3 play, big-bodied Funchess (6’4/232) should quickly reemerge as Cam’s go-to guy in the red zone. … Smith was Carolina’s No. 2 receiver in Week 1, logging 76% of the offensive snaps to slot man Wright’s 46% and No. 4 wideout Moore’s 25% clip. None of them cleared 25 yards in the opener, and nor is any of them worth rostering in season-long leagues. The Falcons’ defensive bread and butter is limiting big plays after allowing the NFL’s eighth-fewest completions of 20-plus yards in 2017, then yielding zero 20-plus-yard pass plays to Nick Foles in Week 1. … Fourth-round TE Thomas will replace Olsen after a strong training camp to face a Falcons defense that will badly miss SS Neal. Thomas averaged 15.0 yards per catch as a senior at Indiana and posted the No. 2 SPARQ score in this year’s tight end class, behind only Mike Gesicki. Albeit not quite a trustworthy Week 2 streamer, Thomas is a deep-league and Dynasty hold.

Score Prediction: Falcons 27, Panthers 24

Editor's Note: If you love Fantasy Football you have to be playing on DRAFT. It's daily fantasy football snake drafts instead of salary caps. All the fun of season long drafts but with no management and they last for just one week. They take minutes to complete and there's even auction drafts! No more setting lineups or constantly worrying about pros, just draft and win! Right now DRAFT is giving Rotoworld readers an exclusive FREE entry into a real money draft when you make your first deposit! Here's the link

LA Chargers @ BuffaloTeam Totals: Chargers 25, Bills 18

The Bills will turn to raw rookie Josh Allen after Nathan Peterman bombed Week 1, throwing two picks and failing to generate a single first down in the first half before getting benched for Allen in garbage time. Buffalo did Allen a major disservice by surrounding him with the league’s worst supporting cast, including a bottom-three offensive line and receivers that don’t get open. Even after it was carved up by Patrick Mahomes, the Chargers’ D/ST is one of this week’s top opponent-based streamers. … Due to his sad-sack teammates, LeSean McCoy’s opener couldn’t have gone much worse. He managed 21 yards on eight touches before taking a seat in the second half of Buffalo’s blowout loss. Optimists can point to Chargers RE Joey Bosa (foot) and DT Corey Liuget’s (suspension) continued absences after Los Angeles surrendered a middling 20/81/4.05/0 rushing line to Chiefs running backs last week. Until the Bills’ offense demonstrates any semblance of functionality, however, McCoy will remain a high-risk RB2. … Not a single Bills pass catcher cleared 30 receiving yards in Week 1, and Allen’s longstanding accuracy woes are unlikely to provide a quick fix. Kelvin Benjamin and Charles Clay are bench material at best.

Philip Rivers emerged from Week 1 with top-three QB1 production, but his day could have been far bigger if not for several big-play drops. The glass-half-full takeaway is those opportunities were there in the first place. Buffalo fielded one of the league’s best pass defenses in 2017, but it didn’t carry over to Week 1. RCB Phillip Gaines got fried by Michael Crabtree and John Brown, and rookie slot CB Taron Johnson left with a shoulder injury. Pass-rush specialist Shaq Lawson pulled his hamstring. Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes for the first time since 2016. Rivers is a solid QB1 bet. … Melvin Gordon “lost” 10 touches on 27% of the snaps to change-up back Austin Ekeler, but Gordon turned 24 touches of his own into 166 yards. Coach Anthony Lynn spoke in the offseason of increasing Gordon’s receiving usage and made good on that promise; Gordon ran 36 pass routes, his most since last Week 5. The Bills allowed the NFL’s most fantasy points to running backs last season, then served up rushing scores to three different Ravens backs in Week 1. Gordon remains an elite RB1 play. Ekeler is a PPR flex option.

Rivers’ Week 1 target distribution: Gordon 13; Keenan Allen 11; Mike Williams 6; Ekeler, Tyrell Williams, and Travis Benjamin 5; Antonio Gates 3; Virgil Green 2. … Allen ran 60% of his Week 1 routes in the slot, where he will draw Bills fill-in slot CB Rafael Bush, a third safety/special teamer who allowed Willie Snead’s 13-yard score off the bench last week. It's a lopsided mismatch in Allen’s favor. … Mike’s final Week 1 box score (5/81/0) was decent on paper, but Rivers barely even looked at him until what amounted to garbage time against the Chiefs. He also got out-snapped (54%) by Tyrell (76%) and Benjamin (57%). Tyrell added to Los Angeles’ misery by dropping a 40-yard touchdown bomb, and Benjamin dropped a 29-yard score. Benjamin's (foot, questionable) absence would elevate the outlook for both Williamses as WR3/flex plays. Based on where they lined up in Week 1, Mike is the likeliest Charger to draw stingy Bills LCB Tre'Davious White. … Gates was eased in after rejoining the team late in camp, logging a 40% playing-time clip with targets on just three of Rivers’ 52 dropbacks. He has a friendly Week 2 matchup against a Bills defense that yielded 9/103/0 to Ravens tight ends last week, but Gates will remain a touchdown-or-bust streamer until his snaps and targets pick up.

Score Prediction: Chargers 20, Bills 14

Editor's Note: Looking for a weekly edge in your fantasy leagues? Get the Rotoworld Season Pass for projections, early-week rankings, WR & RB reports, exclusive columns and chats with our experts and much more for just $19.99.

Minnesota @ Green BayTeam Totals: N/A

Aaron Rodgers played much of the 2016 season with a hamstring injury that confined him to the pocket, yet he still led the league in touchdown passes (40) and threw for 4,428 yards, third most of his career. Rodgers became a more-structured, less-random player, meaning fewer of his trademark rollout bombs but improved down-to-down consistency as a pure pocket passer. This is relevant because Rodgers’ knee injury may limit his mobility for multiple weeks. More worrisome is his Week 2 matchup. Since Mike Zimmer took over as Vikings head coach in 2014, Rodgers has managed yardage/touchdown/interception totals of 347/4/0 > 213/1/1 > 291/1/1 > 212/2/0 > 209/2/0 > 156/3/0 in six meetings. Rodgers remains an every-week QB1 in season-long leagues, but expectations should be lowered considering his substandard health and difficult opponent. If the Packers start raw sophomore DeShone Kizer, the passing game would take a crippling hit. … Jamaal Williams led Green Bay’s backfield in Week 1 touches (15) against the Bears, but he lost more playing time than expected to Ty Montgomery (38%) because the Packers were forced to play from behind. Williams now draws a stingy Vikings defense that limited 49ers running backs to 23/84/3.65/0 rushing last Sunday. Williams’ lack of a full-time role and matchup push him to the bottom of the RB2 bin. More-explosive teammate Aaron Jones returns from suspension in Week 3.

Rodgers’ Week 1 targets: Randall Cobb 10; Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison 8; Jimmy Graham 4; Montgomery 3; Williams 2. … Coming off a monster opener (9/142/1), Cobb may again be Green Bay’s best means of moving the chains against the Vikings, who are using rookie Mike Hughes at slot corner. Hughes picked off Jimmy Garoppolo in the opener, but also gave up a 39-yard gain to 49ers rookie Dante Pettis. Cobb ran the fifth-most slot routes in the league (32) in Week 1 and gained 133 yards inside. He’s a solid WR2. … Adams is sure to get Xavier Rhodes treatment after the Vikings’ top corner put an Opening Day blanket on Pierre Garcon (2/21/0). Rodgers is willing to throw to Adams even when he’s “covered,” however, and Adams did eke out a 5/54/1 stat line last Week 6 with Rhodes following him. Still, there is no getting around the fact that this sets up as one of Adams’ toughest matchups all year. Adams also emerged from last week’s win with a shoulder injury, but it won't keep him out. … Allison confirmed his stranglehold on third receiver duties versus Chicago, playing 70% of the snaps, tying Adams for second in targets, producing a 5/68/1 stat line, and drawing the Packers’ lone target inside the ten. With Rhodes chasing Adams, Allison is a sleeper for another big game. … Graham flopped (2/7/0) against a Chicago defense that excels in tight end coverage. The Vikings sprung leaks there last week, giving up 90 yards to George Kittle. And Kittle could’ve had a much bigger game if not for a dropped would-be 80-yard score and Jimmy Garoppolo’s end-zone miss from four yards out. It may be time to worry if Graham doesn’t pick it up this week.

Although Latavius Murray wound up with 11 carries, Dalvin Cook operated as the Vikings’ Week 1 lead back while the game was in doubt, logged 80% of Minnesota’s offensive snaps, parlayed 22 touches into 95 yards, and drew seven targets to Murray’s none. Murray remains a threat to Cook’s short-yardage and goal-line work, but not Cook’s workhorse role. Green Bay’s defense struggled to contain Bears backs last Sunday night, surrendering a 20/107/5.35/0 rushing line to Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, who also combined for eight receptions. Cook is a fringe RB1 play at Lambeau Field. … Kirk Cousins was sharp in his Vikings debut, chipping away at the 49ers’ defense with passes to Cook before completing the Throw of the Week on a gorgeously-placed 22-yard touchdown to Stefon Diggs and later connecting with Kyle Rudolph from 11 yards out. Cousins’ Week 2 matchup is not quite as friendly, however, facing a Packers defense that sacked Mitchell Trubisky four times in the opener and held him below five yards per pass attempt, although Trubisky’s struggles were much of his own doing. This game does offer high-scoring potential, and Cousins’ weapons give him big upside each week. He’s a confident QB1 play.

Cousins’ Week 1 target distribution: Adam Thielen 12; Cook 7; Stefon Diggs 6; Laquon Treadwell 4; Kyle Rudolph 2. … Thielen took a commanding Opening Day lead to reassert himself as Minnesota’s No. 1 receiver, leading the team in targets by a wide margin and drawing 157 Air Yards, seventh most in the league. Thielen is Josh Hermsmeyer's No. 1 Air Yards buy-low target after underperforming his Week 1 opportunity share. Thielen did run 67% of his routes in the slot and will mainly face rookie slot CB Jaire Alexander, whom PFF charged with the highest Week 1 passer rating allowed (102.1) among Packers cornerbacks. Thielen is a legitimate WR1. … Diggs is also a good bet to win his matchups against LCB Kevin King and RCB Tramon Williams. Williams is 35 years old, while King (6’3/200) is a plus-sized, Seahawks-style cornerback sure to struggle with Diggs’ quicks. … Rudolph’s two Week 1 targets were at least mildly concerning, although the 49ers’ tight end coverage is vastly underrated with Jaquiski Tartt healthy, and Rudolph was the recipient of one of Cousins’ two red-zone targets, which he turned into an 11-yard TD. Rudolph ran 33 routes, 12th most among NFL tight ends. Ultimately, Rudolph is unlikely to produce high-volume catch and yardage totals. He’ll make his money in the red zone, where Rudolph has always been at his best.

Score Prediction: Vikings 27, Packers 23

Houston @ TennesseeTeam Totals: Texans 23.5, Titans 21.5

After a rough preseason and opener he didn’t finish due to an elbow injury, Marcus Mariota is expected to share time with Blaine Gabbert against Houston. Both quarterbacks will miss Delanie Walker (ankle) for the rest of the season, and Corey Davis was limited in practice with a hamstring injury after hamstring woes ruined Davis’ rookie year. RT Jack Conklin (knee) isn’t ready to play, and LT Taylor Lewan won’t either after suffering his second concussion in the last 18 months. Not comfortable in first-year OC Matt LaFleur’s offense with a fast-deteriorating supporting cast, Mariota can be dropped in season-long leagues. … Derrick Henry lost a Week 1 touchdown run to a holding penalty on Walker, but Henry was otherwise highly ineffective with 31 scoreless yards on 11 touches. Although Henry handled eight touches before Dion Lewis touched the ball at all, Lewis severely outplayed him upon entering with 110 yards and a touchdown on 21 touches and a 71% playing-time clip. The Texans played decent Week 1 run defense by holding Patriots backs to a 27/107/3.96/0 rushing line, although they coughed up 6/49/1 receiving to the position. Lewis ran 30 routes versus Henry’s nine. While Henry is a low-floor, touchdown-or-bust RB2/flex, Lewis suddenly looks like a trustworthy RB2.

Corey Davis’ hamstring limitations are something to monitor, but Titans coaches insist they were planned and precautionary. Davis’ usage is the biggest story here; he logged 13 targets in Tennessee’s loss to Miami and has upside for even more after Walker’s injury. Davis also dominated targets in the red zone (3) and inside the 10 (2) and was flexed around the formation, running 30% of his routes in the slot. Davis now draws a Texans secondary that yielded 7/66/1 to Phillip Dorsett last week and lost LCB Kevin Johnson (concussion) to I.R. Davis isn’t a comfortable play amid quarterback shakiness and possibly substandard health, but sheer volume puts him on the WR2/3 borderline. Davis checked in as Josh Hermsmeyer's No. 2 Air Yards buy-low receiver for Week 2. … Jonnu Smith will take over for Walker, giving him immediate streamer appeal versus Houston defense that allowed the NFL’s sixth-most yards to tight ends last year, then hemorrhaged 7/123/1 on only eight targets to Rob Gronkowski last week. A top-six SPARQ tight end in the 2017 draft, Smith blazed 4.62 at 6-foot-3, 248 coming out of Florida International, where he caught 178 passes as a four-year starter. … Tajae Sharpe operated as Tennessee’s No. 2 wideout in Week 1, out-snapping (84%) Rishard Matthews (52%) and Taywan Taylor (13%) but drawing only three targets. The Titans used Matthews in the slot, where he’ll contend with Texans top CB Aaron Colvin. Beyond Davis and potentially Smith, this passing game will be a situation to avoid until it shows signs of productivity.

Deshaun Watson struggled in Houston’s opener at Foxboro, turning the ball over twice and going 2-for-10 with a pick on throws delivered 15-plus yards downfield. More concerning was the Texans’ line play, which served up 12 hits and three sacks to a Patriots defense that averaged just 5.8 hits per game last year. Watson faced pressure on 54% of his dropbacks, way up even from last year’s league-high 40% clip. Third-round rookie LT Martinas Rankin got beaten badly, and RT Seantrel Henderson (ankle) was lost for the year. Yet this is a rebound spot against the Titans, who showed no Week 1 pass-rush life (two hits, one sack) to exploit Houston’s main weakness. Watson remains a high-ceiling QB1 in season-long leagues with DFS ownership certain to be lowered by recency bias. Watson-to-DeAndre Hopkins stacks should stay in play each week. … This is an above-average matchup for Lamar Miller versus a Titans defense against which Dolphins running backs combined for 23/109/4.74/0 rushing in Week 1. After shedding weight in the offseason, Miller showed improved quickness against the Patriots with 21 touches for 109 yards. The biggest letdown was Alfred Blue’s third-quarter vulture of a one-yard touchdown run, although Miller handled four red-zone carries to Blue’s one. Miller is a quality volume-based RB2 play. With D’Onta Foreman on PUP, Blue is worth rostering in deep leagues with standalone goal-line value and RB2 potential if Miller got hurt.

Watson’s Week 1 targets: DeAndre Hopkins 11; Bruce Ellington 8; Miller, Jordan Thomas, and Jordan Akins 2, Tyler Ervin 1. … Beginning with most recent, Hopkins’ 10 career stat lines against the Titans are 8/80/0 > 10/107/1 > 7/123/0 > 1/4/0 > 7/117/1 > 8/94/1 > 9/238/2 > 5/95/0 > 4/35/0 > 7/117/1, good for two clunkers, two solids and six eruptions. With Will Fuller (hamstring) unlikely to be 100% if he plays, Hopkins will remain a volume monster in an otherwise sub-par pass-catcher corps. Kenny Stills torched Tennessee’s secondary (4/106/2) despite seeing only five targets, fewer than half as many as Hopkins projects to draw. Stills blew by Titans RCB Malcolm Butler on his 75-yard touchdown bomb. … Fuller was a game-time call at New England and ultimately sat out. Speed-based receivers with hamstring injuries are worrisome investments, at least until they put tangible production in the box score and show they can last for a full game. … Fuller's return will push Ellington into a complementary slot-only role. … None of the Texans’ tight ends commanded enough Week 1 volume for fantasy optimism entering Week 2.

Score Prediction: Texans 27, Titans 17

Cleveland @ New OrleansTeam Totals: Saints 29, Browns 20

The Saints should drop Week 2 hammers on the road-tripping Browns after last week’s embarrassing home loss to the Bucs, who stunningly flamed New Orleans’ secondary in the deep passing game in a manner Tyrod Taylor is very unlikely to repeat. The obvious play is Alvin Kamara, who logged 17 Week 1 touches to his backfield mates’ combined 4 and reached pay dirt twice from the five-yard line or closer, confirming Kamara maintains a stranglehold on scoring-position work. In Week 1's home-game tie, the Browns were ethered by Steelers backup James Conner for 192 total yards and two touchdowns while losing edge-setting LE Emmanuel Ogbah to a high ankle sprain. As a massive home favorite with all-purpose usage, Kamara is one of the highest-floor and highest-ceiling plays on the Week 2 board. … The Saints’ Week 1 defensive performance bodes well for Drew Brees’ box-score outlook after hemorrhaging five offensive TDs to Ryan Fitzpatrick’s Bucs. Even at age 39, Brees showed he remains more than able of flaming a defense with 439 yards and three touchdowns. This is a classic bounce-back spot for Sean Payton’s team in the Superdome. Brees should stay locked into lineups as an upside QB1.

Brees’ Week 1 target distribution: Michael Thomas 17; Kamara 12; Ted Ginn 6; Ben Watson 4; Austin Carr 2; Josh Hill and Tre’Quan Smith 1. … The Browns failed to contain Antonio Brown (9/93/1) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (5/119) in Week 1, and Thomas’ increased slot usage improves his matchup against Browns slot CB Briean Boddy-Calhoun, whom PFF charged with a league-high 158 yards allowed in Week 1. A 20% slot receiver in 2017, Thomas ran 52% of his Opening Day routes inside. Including playoffs, Thomas has cleared 90 yards and/or scored a touchdown in seven of his last eight games. … Behind ballhogs Thomas and Kamara, the rest of New Orleans’ pass catchers are left to battle for scraps. Ginn had the biggest Week 1 (5/68/1) and played 80% of the snaps, giving him short-term WR3/flex appeal on the Superdome’s fast track. … Carr started against the Bucs and logged a 69% snap rate, but he was only targeted twice and would need a Thomas injury to become relevant. … Cameron Meredith was a healthy scratch and can be dropped in most leagues. … Smith was one of the preseason’s most exciting rookies, but he ran only five routes in his first game. We need more usage to view Smith as any kind of sleeper. … Watson does look like a viable streamer. He played 80% of the Week 1 snaps, caught 4-of-4 targets for 44 yards, ran 35 routes – eighth most among NFL tight ends -- and now faces a Browns defense that gave up 60 yards to Steelers blocking TE Jesse James last week.

The Browns’ Week 1 deployment of Tyrod Taylor was downright irresponsible, dropping him back to pass a career-high 47 times as Tyrod pathetically completed 37.5% of his throws and took a whopping seven sacks with undrafted rookie LT Desmond Harrison on his blind side. Tyrod did not look fully healthy after suffering a late-preseason arm injury, although he did pay fantasy dividends with 8/77/1 rushing. To maximize his team’s strengths and minimize weaknesses, OC Todd Haley must commit to a run-first offense that suits his dual-threat quarterback. Until then, Taylor will be attackable with streamer D/STs. This is a bounce-back spot for the Saints after DC Dennis Allen’s unit giftwrapped last week's 48-point Bucs debacle. … Even as Cleveland played most of last week’s game from behind, Carlos Hyde led the backfield in snap rate (53%) and touches (23) and handled the Browns’ lone carry inside the five, hitting pay dirt from a yard out. Duke Johnson (6 touches) and Nick Chubb (3) were non-factors, especially concerning for Johnson because he should theoretically thrive in negative scripts. More negative script is likely when Cleveland visits New Orleans as a hefty underdog. Hyde is a volume-based RB2. Johnson and Chubb are not playable.

Taylor’s Week 1 target distribution: Jarvis Landry 15; David Njoku 7; Johnson 6; Rashard Higgins 4; Josh Gordon 3; Hyde 2. … Landry’s preseason connection with Tyrod predictably spilled over into Week 1, as Landry paced the Browns in targets by a large margin and drew the second-most Air Yards (223) in the league behind Julio Jones. Running deeper routes will enhance Landry’s yardage potential. He’s a high-floor, high-ceiling WR2 in a game where Tyrod’s attempts project to elevate again. … After playing 78% of Cleveland's Week 1 offensive snaps -- far more than Hue Jackson lied he would -- Gordon was ruled out Saturday due to a reported setback with his hamstring injury. Gordon only drew three Week 1 targets, so his absence doesn't heavily impact Week 2 projections. It does mean Higgins and explosive rookie Antonio Callaway will play more, giving them deep-sleeper appeal in this possible track meet. … Njoku had a forgettable opener, managing 13 scoreless yards on seven targets with two third-quarter drops. Gordon's absence and this projected high-scoring affair do boost Njoku’s box-score outlook in a potential bounce-back game.

Score Prediction: Saints 34, Browns 20

Miami @ NY JetsTeam Totals: Jets 23, Dolphins 20.5

The Jets’ defense and running game deserve much credit, but Sam Darnold’s first NFL start couldn’t have gone much better. Even including his first-throw pick six, Darnold’s ability to resiliently rebound showed maturity well beyond his years as the NFL’s youngest-ever Week 1 starting quarterback in a tough road environment at Ford Field. After attempting just 1-of-45 passes beyond 20 yards this preseason, Darnold unleashed 3-of-21 attempts of 20-plus yards against Detroit and hit two, including a 41-yard touchdown bomb to Robby Anderson. Now back home facing a Dolphins pass defense that wasn’t really tested by struggling/injured Marcus Mariota and Blaine Gabbert, Darnold is a locked-in two-quarterback-league starter with underrated streamer potential down the line. … The lopsided score in Jets-Lions affected things, but Bilal Powell remained Gang Green’s backfield leader in touches (13) and targets (2) over Isaiah Crowell (10, 0), even as Crowell went off for 10/102/2 rushing. Each played 40% of the snaps. Crowell did log all four red-zone carries, including the Jets’ lone rushing attempt inside the ten. Despite Crowell’s superior box-score production, this should be viewed as a near-even RBBC until usage shifts. Miami’s run defense came to play in last week’s win, holding Titans backs to a combined 26/101/3.88/1 rushing line. Crowell is a solid-if-unspectacular flex option. Powell is a flex preferable in PPR leagues.

Darnold’s Week 1 targets: Quincy Enunwa 10; Terrelle Pryor and Neal Sterling 3; Robby Anderson 1. … No player in football commanded a higher Week 1 target share than Enunwa (48%), hinting at massive volume upside in competitive games where Darnold drops back to pass more than 23 times. Enunwa is a perfect fit for OC Jeremy Bates’ West Coast attack. A chain mover between the numbers, Enunwa is also helped by perimeter speedsters Pryor (4.38) and Anderson (4.36), who space the field and give Enunwa room to eat underneath. Enunwa should be viewed as an every-week WR2. … Bates’ increased willingness to dial up deep shots bodes positively for Pryor and Anderson, even after both turned in low-volume Week 1 games. Anderson compensated by parlaying his lone target into a 41-yard touchdown bomb, but he was never destined for a big night in Darius Slay’s shadow. Over Miami’s last seven games, PFF has credited Dolphins top CB Xavien Howard with just 11 catches allowed on 29 targets (37.9%) for 136 scoreless yards (4.69 YPA) and four interceptions. Anderson’s big-play skills keep his upside intact, but this is another sneaky-tough draw. … Pryor ran only 11 routes on 40% of the Week 1 snaps and is merely a deep-league flyer who will likely lose playing time with Jermaine Kearse (abdomen) due back. … The Dolphins got drilled by tight ends all last season, then gave up 7/101/0 to Titans TEs last week. Sterling was Gang Green’s clear lead tight end on Opening Day, playing 67% of the offensive snaps and catching all three of his targets for 27 yards. A converted wide receiver, Sterling offers some deep-sleeper appeal.

Ryan Tannehill resumed the game-manager duties he held throughout 2016 in Week 1, dropping back to pass just 29 times as Miami racked up 29 rushing attempts in its 27-20 win. Tannehill now hits the road to face an underrated Jets secondary that picked off Matthew Stafford four times in its opener and held him to an anemic 2.75 adjusted yards per attempt, Stafford’s single-game low since October of 2015. Tannehill is a low-upside two-quarterback-league start. … Kenyan Drake operated as Miami’s Week 1 lead back, out-touching (17) and out-snapping (74%) Frank Gore (9, 29%) while rookie Kalen Ballage was a healthy scratch. Gore did run hot, gaining 61 yards on his nine carries (6.78 YPC) and dominating a first-half drive that Tannehill capped with a ten-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills. Both backs had two red-zone carries and one inside the ten. Gore won’t go away if he continues to run efficiently, but Drake is a locked-in RB2 regardless who will play more when the Dolphins fall behind. Especially after losing LG Josh Sitton (shoulder) to I.R., this is an average to below-average matchup for Drake against a Jets defense that held Lions backs to 13/34/2.62/0 rushing in Week 1. Gang Green did surrender eight running back catches, more meaningful for Drake than Gore. Gore ran just seven routes and wasn’t targeted, while Drake ran 24 patterns and drew four looks.

Tannehill’s Week 1 target distribution: Jakeem Grant 7; Danny Amendola 6; Kenny Stills 5; Drake and Albert Wilson 4; Mike Gesicki 2. … Combine Adam Gase’s run-first approach with a WRBC and we’ll have a hard time trusting members of this wideout corps. The committee will expand to five members in Week 2 with DeVante Parker (hand) on track to return. Week 1 target leader Grant played just 40% of Miami’s offensive snaps and gained 38 scoreless yards on five catches. Wilson rotated in for a 55% playing-time clip. Amendola (73%) and Stills (95%) were out there most, and Stills was the only Dolphins receiver to draw a target inside the ten-yard line. Stills is the best Week 2 bet against a Jets defense that yielded four 20-plus-yard completions to the Lions, tied for sixth most in the league. On top of his ten-yard score, Stills dusted Titans RCB Malcolm Butler for a 75-yard TD bomb. … Amendola remains in PPR play against the Jets, who gave up 7/79/1 to fellow slot WR Golden Tate last week. … Gesicki debuted as a 34% player against Tennessee, getting out-snapped by AJ Derby (74%) with fellow rookie Durham Smythe (24%) also in the mix. Gesicki will be a poor streamer until he carves out a full-time role.

Score Prediction: Jets 21, Dolphins 20

Kansas City @ PittsburghTeam Totals: Steelers 29, Chiefs 24.5

Chiefs-Steelers sets up as a shootout as Pittsburgh returns to Heinz Field where Mike Tomlin’s team historically fares far better, and Kansas City comes off nearly dropping a 40-burger on the Bolts. Much like DeAngelo Williams before him, James Conner is an elite RB1 on Le’Veon Bell-caliber usage after playing 92% of Pittsburgh’s Week 1 snaps and parlaying an otherworldly 36 touches into 192 yards and two scores at Cleveland. No other Steelers back touched the ball once. In the Chiefs’ opener, Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler combined to gash DC Bob Sutton’s defense for 20/103/5.15/0 rushing and 14/189/13.5/1 receiving. Unlike the Chargers’ backs, Conner shares time with no one. He’s a top-three RB1 play for Week 2. … More reason to keep the faith in Conner is Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow injury, which won’t affect Ben’s availability but did cost him practice time and may impact his effectiveness and/or pass volume. DFS players know full well about Roethlisberger’s home-away splits, and on Sunday he catches a sorry Chiefs pass defense that served up Week 1’s overall QB3 result to Philip Rivers despite Tyrell Williams dropping an easy 40-yard touchdown bomb and Travis Benjamin blowing multiple would-be-big gains. Especially with SS Eric Berry (heel) still sidelined, Kansas City has no one in the secondary capable of hanging with Pittsburgh’s pass catchers. Whereas Tomlin’s Steelers have averaged an increase of over seven points per game at home over the past three years, the Chiefs have allowed nearly a touchdown more per game on the road during that same span.

Roethlisberger’s Week 1 target distribution: Antonio Brown 16; JuJu Smith-Schuster 8; Conner 6; Justin Hunter and Jesse James 5; Ryan Switzer 1. … Brown is once again this week’s overall WR1 play against a Chiefs defense Keenan Allen (8/108/1) shredded last Sunday. Brown’s stat lines in his last six full games played are 9/93/1 > 7/132/2 > 11/213/0 > 8/101/1 > 10/169/2 > 10/144/3. … Smith-Schuster led the NFL in slot routes (39) last week and will encounter slot CB Kendall Fuller, whom PFF gave its worst Week 1 cornerback grade in Kansas City’s beleaguered cornerback unit. Smith-Schuster will be a WR2 with WR1 upside all year. … Hunter was Pittsburgh’s clear-cut No. 3 receiver in last week’s tie with Cleveland, out-snapping rookie James Washington 75% to 13% but also dropping a pass and managing six yards on five targets. As the playing-time pendulum could swing toward Washington at any moment, neither is a trustworthy Week 2 start. … Vance McDonald (foot) resumed practicing fully this week and is apparently on track to play. McDonald figures to be eased in after missing almost all of training camp and Week 1, so he would be a high-risk streamer. McDonald’s return does remove James from streamer contention.

Patrick Mahomes needed only 15 completions to torch a talented Chargers pass defense for 256 yards and four TDs in Kansas City’s Opening Day upset win, adding five rushes for 21 yards in a top-four QB1 performance. Armed with matchup-proof dual-threat talent, dynamic pass catchers, and a defense that will continually remind him of his Big 12 playing days, Mahomes warrants DFS investments each week, regardless of opponent. In Week 2, he’ll catch a Steelers pass defense that permitted 8/77/1 rushing to Tyrod Taylor in its opener and will be without top CB Joe Haden (hamstring), while bookend RCB Artie Burns (toe) is questionable. … Pittsburgh’s Week 1 defensive strength came versus non-Tyrod runs, holding Browns backs to a 30/100/3.33/1 rushing line and just two catches for 11 yards on eight combined targets. Even if the matchup isn’t ideal, Kareem Hunt warrants low-end RB1 treatment after out-touching Spencer Ware 16 to 4 and out-snapping him 71% to 16%. Neither received a red-zone carry, but Hunt did draw a target inside the ten-yard line. Ware did not. Ware is a handcuff lacking standalone value.

Mahomes’ Week 1 target distribution: Tyreek Hill 8; Travis Kelce 6; Sammy Watkins 5; D’Anthony Thomas 2; Hunt, Ware, and Chris Conley 1. … Hill has been lethal on the road since becoming a full-time wideout last year, logging stat lines of 7/169/2 > 6/185/2 > 7/68/0 > 2/64/1 > 6/125/1 > 4/68/0 > 5/77/1 > 7/133/1 in his last eight games outside of K.C. It’s been evident since the preseason that Mahomes and Hill are on the same page, and Haden’s injury only bolsters Hill’s odds of another monster game. Unsurprisingly, Hill recorded the top Game Speed of any player in the league in Week 1, hitting 21.95 MPH on his 58-yard touchdown catch. … Watkins is the total opposite, showing no signs of chemistry with Mahomes in camp, preseason, or Week 1. The Chiefs tried to get Watkins going by targeting him on the first pass of last week’s win, but he finished with 21 scoreless yards on five looks and drew just 23 Air Yards, fewer than Hill, Kelce, and even Thomas. Watkins is a low-floor WR4/flex. … Kelce has also been quiet with Mahomes under center, a potential early-season concern. His 92 Air Yards in Week 1 did rank fourth most among tight ends. Kelce remains a top-four TE1 play in this projected high-scoring affair, but I prefer Rob Gronkowski (@ JAX), Zach Ertz (@ TB), and George Kittle (vs. DET) straight up with Jordan Reed (vs. IND) also in the mix.

Score Prediction: Steelers 34, Chiefs 24

Philadelphia @ Tampa BayTeam Totals: Eagles 23.5, Buccaneers 20.5

After last week's heroic upset at the Superdome, Ryan Fitzpatrick returns home to face a swarming Eagles pass defense that has ranked top eight in DVOA in each of Jim Schwartz’s two years as coordinator, shut down Matt Ryan in Week 1, and has three extra rest days after playing its opener on Thursday night. Philly pummeled Ryan for 13 hits and four sacks, adding a whopping 10 tackles for loss in its all-out destruction of Atlanta’s top-ten offensive line. Eagles WLB Nigel Bradham also returns after missing the opener on suspension. Forever inconsistent, Fitzpatrick’s last seven yardage/touchdown/interception totals in starts following three-plus-TD games are 181/2/3 > 299/1/1 > 390/2/0 > 135/0/0 > 181/1/1 > 239/0/0 > 126/0/1. The 36-year-old journeyman is a point-chasing Week 2 play. … Bradham’s return helps most in run defense, further upgrading a Philly front that held Falcons backs to a combined 15/55/3.67/1 rushing line in Week 1. As disappointing rookie Ronald Jones was a healthy scratch, Peyton Barber operated as the Bucs’ clear-cut feature back at New Orleans, handling 19 carries on 74% of Tampa Bay’s offensive snaps. No. 2 RB Jacquizz Rodgers touched the ball just three times. Barber was not targeted in the passing game, however, and has never reached 20 catches in a season in college or the pros. Barber is a touchdown-or-bust flex play in this tough draw.

Fitzpatrick’s Week 1 target distribution: Mike Evans 7; DeSean Jackson and Adam Humphries 5; Chris Godwin 4; O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate 2; Rodgers 1; Barber 0. … Dating back to last season, Evans’ stat lines in four near-full games with Fitzpatrick are 7/147/1 > 5/92/0 > 6/78/0 > 3/95/1, good for easy high-end WR1 production. After dusting Marshon Lattimore, Evans has a softer Week 2 draw versus an Eagles cornerback unit that couldn’t cover Julio Jones (10/169) last week. … Jackson’s (concussion, shoulder) potential Week 2 absence would lock in Godwin as Tampa Bay’s No. 2 wideout. Godwin has played 40 or more snaps in four career games, logging receiving lines of 5/68/0, 3/98/0, 7/111/1, and 3/41/1. If Jackson is inactive, Godwin will be a WR3 with WR2 upside. Jackson did practice fully on Friday, giving him a 50-50 shot to face his old team. … Humphries, Howard, and Brate can be ignored as possession options competing for targets in a passing attack sure to experience less overall success than last week. Howard and Brate draw an Eagles defense that last year allowed the NFL’s 12th-fewest yards to tight ends, then held Falcons tight ends to 24 scoreless yards on five targets in Week 1.

The Eagles’ offense didn’t find its groove until the second half of last week’s win over Atlanta, when Jay Ajayi logged 12 of his 15 carries and parlayed them into 51 yards (4.3 YPC) with two TDs and a two-point conversion. Philly’s failed first-half bid to feature Darren Sproles seemed game-plan specific versus a Falcons defense that has long been vulnerable to running back receptions. Most promising was Ajayi’s featured scoring-position usage, handling the Eagles’ lone carry inside the five and reaching pay dirt from 1 and 11 yards out. Behind the NFL’s top offensive line, Ajayi remains a solid RB2 play at Tampa Bay, which is missing NT Vita Vea (calf) with DE Jason Pierre-Paul (knee) banged up. Ajayi’s outlook is further improved by Sproles' (hamstring) absence. … Although Sproles paced Philly’s backfield in Week 1 snaps (41%) over Ajayi (39%) and Corey Clement (18%), the 35-year-old managed 32 yards on nine touches and is more nuisance to his teammates than quality bench stash. Sproles isn't roster worthy now that he's injured. … Clement was used like a strict handcuff, running fewer routes (6) than Ajayi (10) and Sproles (21) and logging five carries without a target. Sproles' loss gives Clement dart-throw flex appeal, although the Eagles could simply insert Wendell Smallwood to maintain their three-way rotation. … Nick Foles’ abysmal preseason bled into Week 1, where he pathetically managed 117 scoreless yards on 34 passes (3.4 YPA) and went 0-for-7 on 15-plus-yard attempts. Despite Foles' poor showing, his Week 2 matchup is soft enough for Foles to warrant QB1 streamer discussion. Zach Ertz, Nelson Agholor, and Mike Wallace all enter mouth-watering spots.

Foles’ Week 1 targets: Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor 10; Sproles 7; Mike Wallace and Dallas Goedert 3; DeAndre Carter 1; Clement and Ajayi 0. … Ertz leads Philly pass catchers in targets from Foles (58) since last season and has caught at least five passes in 19 of his last 27 games (70.4%). In Alshon Jeffery’s (shoulder) absence, Ertz’s consistent volume keeps him in the elite TE1 tier regardless of matchup. This week, Ertz is Josh Hermsmeyer's No. 2 Air Yards buy-low tight end behind only George Kittle. Ertz should have his way with Bucs liability SS Chris Conte all over the field. … Agholor was the Eagles’ featured Week 1 playmaker, tying Ertz for the team lead in targets (10), completing a 15-yard “Philly, Philly” pass back to Foles, and rushing for 16 yards on an end-around. Agholor played 93% of the snaps after logging a 72% snap rate last year. Agholor also moved around the formation, running 53% of his routes in the slot after running 86% inside in 2017. Philly’s version of Keenan Allen, Agholor is an every-week WR2 with Jeffery on the shelf. His matchup is improved by Bucs slot CB Vernon Hargreaves’ year-ending shoulder injury, forcing rookie M.J. Stewart into a near-full-time role. … Even after a catch-less opener, Mike Wallace is a WR4/flex sleeper against a putrid Bucs secondary that starts rookie RCB Carlton Davis and practice-squad type Ryan Smith outside. Davis got destroyed by the Saints last week, then was benched late in the game. Wallace led the Eagles in Week 1 Air Yards (109). … Goedert was out-snapped (24%) by Carter (74%) in Week 1, drew only three targets on 10 routes, didn’t get his feet in bounds on an end-zone target, and was stripped on an RPO target that caused Foles’ interception. Ertz, Agholor, and Wallace are Philly’s only fantasy-viable pass catchers.

Score Prediction: Eagles 24, Buccaneers 17

Indianapolis @ WashingtonTeam Totals: Redskins 25.5, Colts 22.5

The Skins go home after manhandling Arizona, where Adrian Peterson operated as Washington’s bellcow on 26/96/1 rushing with two grabs for a team-high 70 yards, out-snapping Chris Thompson 52% to 43% and out-touching him 28 to 11. Peterson draws an even more-favorable matchup against a road-tripping Colts defense that surrendered 18/93/5.17/1 rushing to Bengals backs in Week 1 and will be without top DT Denico Autry (ankle). Peterson doesn’t have quite the agility or long speed he once did, but he still runs violently and gained the third-most yards after contact among all NFL backs in Week 1. He is an RB2 play in this highly-favorable spot. … Thompson picked up right where he left off last season in Week 1, totaling 128 yards with a 13-yard first-half receiving score. Over his last 16 games, Thompson has banked 1,130 all-purpose yards with 10 TDs and 58 receptions. Basically a poor man’s Alvin Kamara, Thompson warrants every-week flex treatment in PPR leagues. The Colts got gashed by Bengals backs in the passing game last week, coughing up 6/65/0 on eight targets to Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard. They struggled to contain Mixon on screens, which are Thompson’s bread and butter. When healthy, very few offensive lines block screen plays better than Washington’s. … Alex Smith has appeared comfortable in Jay Gruden’s offense since the moment he entered it, and Smith emerged from Week 1 as fantasy’s QB13 on 8.5 yards per attempt. Last week, ex-Gruden pupil Andy Dalton dropped QB15 results on these same Colts. Smith is a respectable QB1 streamer.

Smith’s Week 1 target distribution: Thompson 7; Paul Richardson 6; Jordan Reed 5; Jamison Crowder 4; Peterson and Josh Doctson 3; Vernon Davis 1. … Richardson’s Week 1 long gain was seven yards on four receptions, yet his game is winning contested catches downfield. Even in plus draws, Richardson will be tough to trust attached to non-aggressive Smith. Richardson is questionable for this one with a shoulder injury. … Doctson played nearly 90% of Washington’s Week 1 offensive snaps but was barely targeted. Another wideout who makes his living on 50-50 balls, Doctson would likely need multiple injuries elsewhere in the pass-catcher corps to make fantasy noise. … Dalton went a perfect 5-of-5 for 57 yards when targeting Bengals tight ends last week after last year’s Colts served up the NFL’s seventh-most touchdowns to Reed’s position (7). In Week 1, PFF charged Indy’s linebacker corps with eight catches allowed on nine combined targets for 90 yards. Over the last eight games where Reed ran 20-plus routes, his receiving lines are 4/48/1 > 8/64/2 > 4/37/0 > 6/48/0 > 5/36/0 > 5/40/1 > 10/95/2 > 5/79/0, good for a 94/894/10 pace over 16 games. He ran 22 routes on Opening Day. Reed is an easy TE1 as long as he’s healthy. … Competing with Reed and Thompson for over-the-middle targets with Richardson and Doctson outside, Crowder is in a poor volume position. He had a mouth-watering Week 1 matchup at Arizona but managed 32 scoreless yards on four targets.

It’s clear by now that first-year coach Frank Reich’s dink-and-dunk passing approach is by design. After attempting just 2-of-41 preseason throws 20-plus yards downfield, Andrew Luck threw 4-of-53 passes 20 or more yards in the air in last week’s defeat, instead picking apart the Bengals on quick outs as Reich incorporated up-tempo and no-huddle concepts. To compensate for leaky protection and encourage Luck to abolish his own hard-nosed playmaking tendencies, the Colts have made a clear effort to rein in Luck’s Average Depth of Target and time he holds onto the ball. Luck’s arm, athleticism, and weapons all looked strong enough in a tough matchup with the Bengals for Luck to be viewed as a low-end QB1 at Washington. This is hardly a pushover matchup, however; the Skins ranked No. 6 in pass-defense DVOA last year, then eliminated Arizona’s passing game in Week 1. It doesn’t help that LT Anthony Castonzo (hamstring) suffered another setback in practice this week. The Colts also placed Week 1 starting RT J’Marcus Webb on I.R. with his own hamstring injury. … Even if Marlon Mack (hamstring, questionable) doesn’t return, the Colts’ backfield offers minimal fantasy appeal due to its committee distribution and the offensive line’s inability to run block. Jordan Wilkins handled 17 Week 1 touches, but he lost 12 to Nyheim Hines and 2 to Christine Michael. None so much as reached 65 total yards. At best, Wilkins is a low-end flex play. Hines’ seven Week 1 catches do give him dice-roll PPR flex appeal.

Luck’s Week 1 target distribution: T.Y. Hilton 11; Jack Doyle 10; Hines and Ryan Grant 9; Eric Ebron 5; Wilkins and Chester Rogers 3. … Hilton ran 24% of his Week 1 routes in the slot and drew 36% of his targets there, and the Colts’ commitment to moving T.Y. around the formation means he’ll avoid stationary LCB Josh Norman on the majority of Sunday’s snaps. For as long as Hilton is leading a Luck-quarterbacked team in targets as he did in Week 1, he will flirt with WR1/2 value. … This is a “revenge game” for Grant, an ex-Redskins possession receiver who quietly led Indianapolis in Week 1 catches (8). Playing 86% of his snaps outside, however, Grant is likelier to encounter Norman than Hilton. … Ebron caught a cinch 26-yard touchdown from Luck in Week 1 but also committed two penalties, managed 25 scoreless yards on his other four targets, and ran 25 routes compared to Doyle’s 55. Ebron is a legit factor in the Colts’ passing game, but he is also a part-time player with a goose-egg floor. … Among Colts pass catchers, only Hilton drew more Week 1 targets than Doyle, who remains a perfect fit for Reich’s short-passing approach. Doyle’s 60 receiving yards led the team in Week 1. Facing DC Greg Manusky’s zone defense which was tormented by tight ends all last year, Doyle is an underrated mid-range TE1.

Score Prediction: Redskins 28, Colts 23

4:05 PM ET Games

Arizona @ LA RamsTeam Totals: Rams 29, Cardinals 16

Fresh off shredding the Raiders for 147 yards and a touchdown on 23 touches, Todd Gurley encounters an even softer Week 2 matchup as a nearly two-TD home favorite against Arizona, whose defense Redskins backs pummeled for an unholy 301 total yards and two TDs in Week 1. The Cardinals’ 133 receiving yards allowed to Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson were the most any team surrendered to running backs last week. Alvin Kamara was the NFL’s only back to gain more 2017 receiving yards than Gurley, who is again this week’s top RB1 play. … Arizona couldn’t contain Washington’s running game on Opening Day, but Steve Wilks’ defense did generate pressure with 10 hits and three sacks on Alex Smith. Smith still emerged with 255 yards on 30 attempts (8.5 YPA) and a pair of touchdowns, his box-score production greatly enhanced by Peterson and Thompson’s pass-catching production. Jared Goff is rarely an upside play with limited mobility on a run-first team, but he’s a passable starter on the QB1 fringe.

Goff’s Week 1 target distribution: Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods 9; Brandin Cooks 8; Gurley 5; Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee 0. … Kupp picked up right where he left off last season as Goff’s go-to guy in scoring position, leading the Rams in Week 1 red-zone targets (3) with two inside the ten. The Cardinals shut down fellow slot WR Jamison Crowder (3/32/0) last week, although Crowder’s target competition is stiffer than Kupp’s in their respective offenses. The Rams’ utter lack of tight end production improves Kupp’s weekly projections as a high-end WR3. … Some observers worried Cooks would play a decoy role similar to Sammy Watkins’ last year, but Cooks was often Goff’s primary read against the Raiders. He technically saw a team-high 10 targets, but lost two on defensive pass interference flags for long gains. (Watkins reached eight targets in just 1-of-15 games last year; in Week 12 with Woods inactive.) Cooks ran 85% of his Week 1 routes outside and is the likeliest Ram to face Patrick Peterson, although Wilks’ resistance to using Peterson to shadow No. 1 wideouts means Cooks will frequently encounter burnable RCB Jamar Taylor, as well. Cooks is a WR2/3. … Woods ran 27% of his Week 1 routes inside and should be able to stay away from Peterson enough to rebound from last week’s 37-yard clunker, where Goff missed him for multiple big plays. Woods’ volume is secure, and he led the Rams in Week 1 Air Yards (161). He also tied Kupp for the team lead in targets inside the ten-yard line (2) in Oakland.

Sam Bradford’s opener went so poorly that he should be at risk of in-game benchings, a risk heightened in this road date with the Rams, who last year allowed the NFL’s ninth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks, then held Derek Carr to Week 1’s QB27 result with no scores and three picks. Bradford is barely a two-quarterback-league play. … David Johnson was more ground-and-pounder than space back in his debut under first-year OC Mike McCoy, surviving with 67 yards and a touchdown on 14 touches while tweaking his back. Johnson did draw four targets inside the ten-yard line, most in the league. The Rams’ defensive front sprung just enough Week 1 leaks to give Johnson optimism, permitting a 20/85/4.25/1 rushing line with 13/60/0 receiving to Raiders backs. Last year, Rams DC Wade Phillips’ defense gave up the most fantasy points to running backs in the NFC. … Week 1 reconfirmed that Larry Fitzgerald has minimal target competition beyond Johnson. Fitz paced Arizona in targets, catches (7), and Air Yards (90), even if almost all of his production came in the second half. The Cardinals will be chasing frequently this year, which works to Fitzgerald’s benefit. Even if his matchup isn’t the best, Fitzgerald’s secure volume makes him an every-week WR2. … Nos. 2 and 3 receivers Christian Kirk and Chad Williams amounted to Week 1 decoys, combining for two targets. … Ricky Seals-Jones managed 16 scoreless yards on six targets against the Redskins, but he played 92% of the snaps and ran routes on 73% of his plays. Seals-Jones offers TE2 bounce-back appeal against a Rams defense that is without ILB Mark Barron (ankle) after allowing 200(!) yards to Raiders tight ends in Week 1.

Score Prediction: Rams 37, Cardinals 13

Detroit @ San FranciscoTeam Totals: 49ers 27, Lions 21

After predictably struggling in Minnesota, the 49ers should rebound in a major Week 2 way against a road-tripping Lions team that is playing on a short week following its embarrassing Monday night home loss to the Jets while internally feuding over rookie coach Matt Patricia’s dictatorial approach. Sam Darnold – the youngest Week 1 starting quarterback in NFL history – torched Patricia’s defense for two touchdowns and 9.4 yards per attempt, taking just two hits all night against Detroit’s lifeless pass rush, which lost RE Ziggy Ansah (shoulder) during the game. Jimmy Garoppolo would have had a much bigger opener had George Kittle and Pierre Garcon not dropped would-be touchdowns from 80 and 15 yards out. Jimmy G is a confident QB1 and an ideal fade-recency-bias DFS play. … Isaiah Crowell and Bilal Powell combined to blowtorch the Lions for a rushing line of 22/162/7.36/2, giving Alfred Morris and Matt Breida far more fantasy appeal than they offered versus the Vikings. Morris was San Francisco’s clear lead back in the first half of Week 1, only to lose a fumble at the two-yard line before the 49ers went into second-half comeback mode featuring Breida. It’s a reminder that Morris’ floor is lowered by his lack of passing-game chops, but he is the best bet for carries and TDs in this backfield. Breida still isn’t far behind as a flex option.

Garoppolo’s Week 1 target distribution: George Kittle 9; Trent Taylor and Pierre Garcon 6; Dante Pettis 5; Breida and Kyle Juszczyk 2; Marquise Goodwin 1. … Kittle posted solid 5/90/0 results in Minnesota, but his day would have been far bigger had he not dropped the aforementioned 80-yard TD, and had Garoppolo not missed Kittle on a four-yard score. Kinks in their chemistry should be expected after Kittle missed most of camp with a shoulder injury. He still led San Francisco in targets and tied for the team lead in red-zone targets (2) and targets inside the 10 (1). No tight end in the entire league drew more Air Yards than Kittle’s 118. I have Kittle as a top-three TE1 play this week, behind only Rob Gronkowski and Zach Ertz. … As Goodwin played just 25% of the 49ers’ snaps due to a bruised quad, Pettis came on to catch Garoppolo’s lone touchdown pass and beat Vikings CB Mike Hughes for a 39-yard gain. Goodwin has been ruled out for Week 2, making Pettis a highly compelling sleeper against a Detroit defense that allowed three 20-plus-yard pass plays to the Jets in a game where Sam Darnold needed only 16 completions to win. The 44th overall pick in April's draft, Pettis is a plus route runner with 4.47 speed. … Garcon is the likeliest 49er to draw Darius Slay's coverage. As forecasted in last week’s Matchups, the Vikings stuck Xavier Rhodes on Garcon rather than Goodwin. Lions No. 2 CB Nevin Lawson got burned for 4/51/1 on six targets by the Jets. … Taylor drew two of his six Week 1 targets in the red zone, including one inside the ten. He’s in the deep-league PPR mix.

After Matthew Stafford’s stunning four-pick implosion on Monday night, Jets defenders revealed they had figured out OC Jim Bob Cooter’s offense so much that they were calling out plays before the ball was snapped. It was a concerning revelation, but one Cooter and Stafford can fix. Stafford’s Week 2 draw is soft enough to rebound against a 49ers defense that generated only six Week 1 quarterback hits against Minnesota’s porous offensive line and lacks the necessary front-to-back personnel to stymie passing attacks. Stafford “feels” riskier than he should based on recency bias, but he is very capable of a big game. … Kerryon Johnson logged only eight touches on 23% of the Lions’ Week 1 snaps, but he looked like the best back in the rotation and stands to benefit from LeGarrette Blount’s (knee) potential absence. Even without MLB Reuben Foster (suspension) and WLB Malcolm Smith (hamstring), however, San Francisco’s run defense held up well in last week’s loss, limiting Vikings running backs to a combined 27/82/3.04/0 rushing line. At least until Johnson cements a bigger role, Theo Riddick will be Detroit’s lone playable fantasy back. Riddick led the backfield in Week 1 snaps (59%), touches (9), and targets (7) and has an abundance of “trust factor” with Stafford. Riddick’s strength is in the passing game, where Dalvin Cook exposed the Foster- and Smith-less 49ers for 6/55/0 receiving on seven targets in Week 1.

After throwing just seven interceptions all last year, Case Keenum overcame three Week 1 picks to log 329 yards and three touchdowns on 39 attempts (8.4 YPA) in Denver’s win over Seattle, taking just five hits and one sack behind improved protection. Keenum draws even softer pass rush via the Raiders, who managed two hits and one sack on Jared Goff last week and will provide clean pockets all year without Khalil Mack. Keenum is this week’s top matchup-based QB1 streamer. … The Broncos took a thunder-and-lightning Week 1 backfield approach, complementing Royce Freeman (6’0/229) with bursty UDFA Phillip Lindsay (5’7/184) and using Devontae Booker in a low-volume passing-down-only role, where he touched the ball just four times on 26% of Denver’s snaps. Freeman (39%) played slightly more than Lindsay (35%), but Lindsay out-touched Freeman 17 to 15, led the backfield in targets (3), and scored a 29-yard touchdown on a wheel route. This is officially a three-way RBBC. The Broncos do draw a friendly Week 2 matchup as home favorites against a Raiders defense that is playing in Denver’s thin air on a short week after last Monday night’s loss. Rams backs flamed Oakland for 21/113/5.38/0 rushing on Opening Day, and the Raiders coughed up 5/57/1 to Todd Gurley and Malcolm Brown in the passing game. They also lost run-stuffing DTs Justin Ellis (6’2/334, foot) and P.J. Hall (6’1/308, ankle), forcing Oakland to sign two defensive tackles off the street. Still the favorite for goal-line work, Freeman is a quality RB2 with a 15-18 carry projection. Lindsay is worth a long look as an RB2/flex in PPR leagues.

Keenum’s Week 1 target distribution: Emmanuel Sanders 11; Demaryius Thomas 10; Courtland Sutton 5; Jake Butt 4; Lindsay 3; Booker 2; Jeff Heuerman 1; Freeman 0. … Sanders was uncoverable against Seattle, notably tormenting rookie RCB Tre Flowers and running 62% of his routes in the slot, way up from last year’s 27% clip. Sanders’ Week 2 matchup is similarly favorable versus a Raiders defense that served up 5/59/1 receiving to Rams slot WR Cooper Kupp last week. … Thomas had a rocky Week 1 with two drops and another target that got Keenum intercepted, but his high-volume role is most important in fantasy. Thomas also drew Denver’s only target of the game inside the ten-yard line. I was down on Demaryius entering the season, but he’ll be an every-week WR2 if this usage holds. … No. 3 WR Sutton debuted with a 59% snap rate, running 86% of his routes outside. Perimeter CBs Gareon Conley and Rashaan Melvin are the strength of Oakland’s defense and combined to allow just 4-of-10 passes to be completed against them for 83 scoreless yards versus the Rams. Sutton could become a fantasy starter if Sanders or Thomas gets hurt, but he’s just a deep-league WR4/flex option for now. … Butt out-targeted Heuerman in Week 1, but Heuerman out-snapped Butt 81% to 49%. This is a fantasy situation to avoid.

After botching their home opener against the Rams, the Raiders catch another difficult draw in Denver, which piled up 11 hits and six sacks of Russell Wilson last week in a Von Miller-dominated game. Much as he did all last year, Derek Carr played afraid against L.A. and got worse as the game progressed. 26 of Carr’s 29 completions came on throws within nine yards of the line of scrimmage. Carr’s three career yardage/touchdown/interception totals on the road in Denver are 143/1/0 > 135/2/0 > 158/1/1 without a single 200-yard game. After watching the tape, Jon Gruden called out his quarterback directly in the media on Wednesday. “Amari Cooper was open deep, he was open a couple times,” Gruden said. “For whatever reason, we didn’t go there.” Shell shocked at this stage and perhaps even at risk of an in-game benching, Carr is a low-upside two-quarterback-league play. … Marshawn Lynch bulldozed the Rams’ defense for a monstrous first-quarter touchdown run, then fell victim to negative game script and Carr’s three picks, which cost the Raiders possessions. Lynch wound up getting out-snapped 34% to 53% and out-touched 13 to 14 by passing-down specialist Jalen Richard. Doug Martin managed 17 yards on six touches, playing only nine snaps. Lynch remains the Raiders’ clear-cut lead back, but this game was a reminder that his playing time will take a significant hit whenever his team fails to stay competitive. Facing a stout Broncos run defense that held Seahawks running backs to a 14/59/4.21/0 rushing line last week, Lynch is a risky RB2/flex play as an underdog on the road.

Carr’s Week 1 target distribution: Jared Cook 12; Richard 11; Jordy Nelson 4; Amari Cooper and Derek Carrier 3; Lynch, Martin, and Seth Roberts 2. … Checkdown specialist Carr targeted wideouts just nine times in Week 1, the Raiders’ lowest single-game total since 2010. It’s a concerning tendency ahead of a date with a Broncos secondary that didn’t allow any of Seattle’s receivers to clear 60 yards last week. Cooper’s six career stat lines against Denver are 1/9/1 > 2/9/0 > 4/39/1 > 6/56/0 > 0/0 > 4/47/0. Until Carr starts pulling the trigger and improves Amari’s target share, Cooper needs to be downgraded to a risky WR3. Incredibly, Cooper has been held to single-digit receiving yards in six of his last 13 games. … Nelson led Oakland’s wideouts in Week 1 Air Yards but only drew 23. He’s a touchdown-or-bust WR4. … The Raiders re-signed Martavis Bryant this week, but his role is unclear and his skill set fits poorly with Carr’s timidity. … Cook was an open-field monster versus the Rams, setting Oakland’s single-game franchise record for receiving yards (180) by a tight end. Cook should stay hot in Denver, which got torched by no-name Seahawks TEs Will Dissly and Nick Vannett for 4/116/1 receiving on Opening Day. Cook quietly set a career high in receptions (54) last season and looks on track for an even bigger role under Jon Gruden.

Score Prediction: Broncos 28, Raiders 17

New England @ JacksonvilleTeam Totals: Patriots 23, Jaguars 22

Leonard Fournette’s (hamstring) availability will have major ramifications on the Week 2 slate after he left last week’s win in the second quarter and did not return. Fournette called himself a “game-time decision” after missing practice all week, but the odds seem heavily against him. T.J. Yeldon dominated Week 1 snaps (62%) and touches (17) over change-up back Corey Grant (10%, 1) against the Giants and would become an RB2 play versus New England, which struggled in run defense all last year, then surrendered a generous 25/134/5.36/1 rushing line to Texans backs. Jacksonville’s powerful offensive line has a clear edge on New England’s front. Yeldon’s passing-game chops raise his floor after he drew a team-high seven targets in the opener. … Jaguars coaches have often spoken of increasing Grant’s usage, but they’ve never walked the talk. Even as Fournette missed three weeks last season, Grant’s single-game high was 10 touches. He’ll be a risky flex if Fournette sits. … Bortles’ yardage/touchdown/interception totals in Fournette’s three missed 2017 games were 330/1/0 > 259/1/0 > 326/3/0 with 11, 20, and 0 rushing yards. Bortles dented New England for 293 yards and a score in January’s AFC title game, although Bill Belichick’s defensive personnel is much improved this year. Albeit against Houston’s league-worst offensive line, the Patriots pressured Deshaun Watson on a league-high 54% of his Week 1 dropbacks and held him to 5.2 yards per attempt after Watson averaged 8.3 YPA as a rookie. Bortles is a solid two-quarterback-league play, but not quite an exciting QB1 streamer.

Bortles’ Week 1 target distribution: Yeldon 7; Dede Westbrook 6; Donte Moncrief and Austin Seferian-Jenkins 5; Keelan Cole 4; Fournette 3; D.J. Chark 0. … Jaguars OC Nathaniel Hackett embraced spread concepts in Fournette’s three missed games last year and might be willing to air it out more, but forecasting this pass-catcher corps is going to remain dicey each week. Cole paced the wideout corps in Week 1 snaps (75%), but Westbrook led in targets, and Moncrief was the team leader in Air Yards (99). Yeldon was the only player on the roster to draw an official red-zone target, although Seferian-Jenkins had a ten-yard TD negated due to a hands-to-the-face penalty on LG Andrew Norwell. You’re on your own trying to rely on anyone here in fantasy.

The Patriots visit Jacksonville with the league’s most-injured backfield, losing Jeremy Hill (ACL) before Week 1 lead back Rex Burkhead was concussed in Wednesday’s practice. Sony Michel (knee) told reporters he is “preparing to play,” but Michel playing a lot is unlikely in his NFL debut after a lost camp that began with ball-security issues. James White is the obvious play with a real shot at one of the biggest workloads of his career. Even with Burkhead available and Dion Lewis still on the team, White led New England’s backfield in snaps (52%) and routes run (27) in January’s AFC title game against the Jags. If Burkhead is out, White’s biggest box-score obstacle will be a Jacksonville defense that last year yielded the NFL’s tenth-fewest receiving yards to running backs and bottled up Saquon Barkley for 22 yards on six targets in Week 1. Patriots backs combined for 10 catches versus the Jags in the AFC Championship, however. Betting on lead backs in a Tom Brady-quarterbacked offense remains good process, regardless of opponent. … Brady dropped back to pass 41 times compared to only 13 running back runs against the Jags last January, picking apart DC Todd Wash’s group on 26-of-38 passing (68.4%) for 290 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks despite entering the game with a lacerated throwing hand and losing Rob Gronkowski to a first-half concussion. Ahead of a date with Sacksonville's ferocious pass rush, a promising Week 1 takeaway was first-year Patriots LT Trent Brown's near-complete neutralization of Jadeveon Clowney.

Brady’s Week 1 target distribution: White 9; Gronkowski 8; Phillip Dorsett 7; Chris Hogan 5; James Develin 4; Burkhead 3; Hill, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Riley McCarron 1. … There is nothing easy about Gronk’s on-paper matchup against a Jags defense that allowed the NFL’s fifth-fewest yards to tight ends last year, then stymied Evan Engram (2/18/0) in its opener. Engram did lose two big-plays to penalties, however, and Gronk’s projected target volume and dominant talent keep him as the overall TE1 play every week. … Dorsett (7/66/1) played a career-best game in last week’s win over the Texans, but he ran 89% of his routes outside and will therefore see the most of Jaguars elite LCB Jalen Ramsey and RCB A.J. Bouye’s coverage. This matchup makes Dorsett’s Week 1 difficult to chase. … Hogan was among Opening Day’s biggest box-score disappointments, but he did run a team-high 20 routes in the slot, where Hogan gets the best Week 2 matchup in New England’s wideout corps versus Jaguars slot CB D.J. Hayden. In spite of his lame results (1/11/0), Hogan also led the Patriots in Week 1 Air Yards (151), finishing with the 11th most in the entire league. I’m riding with Hogan as a WR3 at worst and sneaky DFS tournament option. Departed slot WR Danny Amendola went off (7/84/2) against Jacksonville in January’s AFC title game.

Score Prediction: Patriots 23, Jaguars 20

Sunday Night Football

NY Giants @ DallasTeam Totals: Cowboys 22.5, Giants 20

Even as his offensive line got dominated by Carolina’s athletic defensive front, Ezekiel Elliott showed the value of locked-in feature back usage with 86 yards and a touchdown on 18 touches in a game where his team pathetically scored eight points. Returning home, Zeke draws a Giants defense that allowed over 130 Week 1 rushing yards and 6/32/1 receiving to Jaguars backs, even as Leonard Fournette (hamstring) left early. Giants OLB Olivier Vernon (ankle) is out again, and ILB Alec Ogletree is a major liability, blowing multiple Week 1 tackles and consistently getting washed out of plays by Jacksonville’s offensive line. (Ogletree also got beaten for an Austin Seferian-Jenkins touchdown that was negated by penalty.) Expect Zeke’s usage and production to rise in an offense virtually certain to score more points than last week. … Albeit in an admittedly-arbitrary sample, Dak Prescott has finished below 200 passing yards in 8 of his last 11 games with an 8:9 TD-to-INT ratio and lowly 6.57 yards-per-attempt average during that span. Just one of Dak’s 29 pass attempts traveled 20-plus yards downfield in Week 1, and Dallas’ shameful shortage of playmakers lowers his floor and ceiling. Prescott hasn't been a bankable fantasy asset since last October.

Dak's Week 1 targets: Cole Beasley 8; Deonte Thompson 5; Elliott and Geoff Swaim 4; Allen Hurns 3; Terrance Williams 2; Michael Gallup and Rod Smith 1. … As forecasted by Cowboys beat writers, Beasley led the team in Opening Day targets and topped 50 receiving yards for just the second time in his last 22 games. Beasley never offers a high ceiling, but he finally looks healthy after multi-year hamstring woes and offers low-end WR3/flex value in PPR leagues. … Also as expected, the Cowboys deployed a five-way WRBC in last week’s loss to Carolina. Beasley (67%) led the way in snap rate, followed by Hurns (59%), Thompson (47%), Gallup (45%), Terrance Williams (30%), and Tavon Austin (16%). Only Beasley has any semblance of fantasy value. … Supposed receiving TE Blake Jarwin played 34% of Dallas’ Week 1 offensive snaps and was not targeted. Swaim, a blocker, is likewise safe to ignore.

Saquon Barkley salvaged an otherwise sluggish opener with a 68-yard touchdown run in the second half after managing 37 yards on his initial 16 carries and catching just 2-of-6 targets for 22 yards in the game. Week 2 improves his passing-game outlook; last year’s Cowboys allowed the NFL’s sixth-most receiving yards to running backs, before Christian McCaffrey touched them up for 45 yards on six catches in Week 1. PFF charged Cowboys MLB Jaylon Smith and WLB Sean Lee with five receptions for 57 yards allowed on just six targets. Panthers backs also combined for an efficient 17/85/5.0/0 rushing line against Dallas. This is a much softer matchup than Barkley faced versus Jacksonville. … Eli Manning did nothing to ease “washed” concerns against the Jags, missing Odell Beckham for repeated big plays, too often settling for checkdowns, and throwing a tipped pick six to Myles Jack that cost the Giants the game. Eli will mix in sporadic big weeks simply because of his weapons, but they’ll be difficult to predict. With Dallas’ offensive line creeping toward mediocrity, Rod Marinelli’s pass defense has a shot to become the new team strength. The Cowboys sacked Cam Newton three times in Week 1 and held him to 161 yards on 26 attempts (6.19 YPA) as not a single Panthers pass catcher reached 50 yards. Eli is best viewed as a two-quarterback-league play and boom-bust QB1 streamer.

Eli’s Week 1 target distribution: Odell Beckham 15; Sterling Shepard 7; Barkley 6; Evan Engram 5; Wayne Gallman 2. … Beckham secured 5 of his 11 Week 1 receptions in Jalen Ramsey’s coverage, and the rest against slot defenders and linebackers as Pat Shurmur aggressively schemed him around the field. OBJ ran 36% of his routes in the slot, well above his 12% and 15% clips under Ben McAdoo. Marinelli’s defense has done a better job than most of containing Beckham, holding him to 4/94/1 > 4/73/0 > 4/35/0 > 5/44/0 in their last four meetings. Coming off an 111-yard outburst against the NFL’s premier pass defense, however, OBJ remains a top-five WR1 play. … Shepard’s ceiling is capped with OBJ healthy, and he now must contend with Barkley and Engram for complementary looks. Shepard is a PPR-specific WR4/flex. … Engram managed 18 scoreless yards in the opener, although he lost a long catch to a holding penalty by RT Ereck Flowers and another big gain to offensive pass interference. Flowers' utter inability to block is a major concern for Engram because he is so often used to help. In Week 1, Engram blocked on a career-high 27 snaps. Not the featured component of New York’s passing game he was last year, Engram is likely to be inconsistent week to week. Last year’s Cowboys did yield the NFL’s 11th-most catches to tight ends. They allowed four receptions for 37 yards on four targets to Panthers tight ends last week.

Score Prediction: Cowboys 21, Giants 20

Monday Night Football

Seattle @ ChicagoTeam Totals: Bears 23, Seahawks 20

After choking away last Sunday night’s game at Lambeau, the Bears return home for their second-straight primetime affair to face a Seattle defense Case Keenum flamed for 329 yards and three TDs while absorbing just five QB hits and one sack. The Seahawks are no longer an imposing pass-defense matchup. Unfortunately, Mitchell Trubisky instilled little confidence against the Packers with 171 scoreless yards on 35 attempts (4.9 YPA), doing his only real damage as a runner (7/32/1) and appearing incapable of exploiting a defense in the air. Trubisky has cleared 200 passing yards in just 3-of-13 career starts and has never thrown multiple touchdown passes in a game. … Jordan Howard had a much more promising opener and deserves to be Chicago’s offensive engine until Trubisky improves. Howard ran 24 pass routes – more than any game last year – and caught 5-of-5 targets to total 107 yards on 20 touches. Tarik Cohen managed 41 yards on eight touches, playing 40% of the snaps to Howard’s 71% clip. Denver backs pounded the Seahawks for a combined 32/146/4.56/0 rushing line in Week 1, while Seattle's top-two linebackers WLB K.J. Wright (knee) and MLB Bobby Wagner (groin) remain banged up. Favored at home in a favorable draw, Howard is a borderline RB1 play. Cohen will need more usage to become a viable flex.

Trubisky’s Week 1 target distribution: Allen Robinson 7; Trey Burton 6; Howard and Taylor Gabriel 5; Cohen 4; Anthony Miller and Dion Sims 3. … Broncos WRs Emmanuel Sanders (10/135/1), Demaryius Thomas (6/61/1), and Courtland Sutton (2/45/0) all produced at or above expectation in last week’s win against this Seattle defense, creating some optimism for Robinson as a WR3 play following his scoreless, 61-yard opener. Robinson was limited all preseason, but he played 96% of Chicago’s Week 1 snaps and led the team in targets, receiving yards, and Air Yards (107). … Burton finished second on the Bears in targets and Air Yards (60), but his preseason rapport with Trubisky didn’t carry over with one catch for 16 yards. Burton did run 40 routes and played 87% of the snaps, so his opportunity remains enticing as a low-end TE1. … Rookie slot man Miller logged a 56% Week 1 snap rate and won’t be a fantasy option until he commands a larger target share. Gabriel was the Bears’ clear No. 2 receiver in Green Bay.

All Seahawks offseason moves pointed to a stronger run-game commitment, but they resorted to a pass-heavy Week 1 due to the defense’s inability to stop Denver from scoring. Russell Wilson overcame 11 hits and six sacks to throw for 298 yards and three TDs, averaging 9.0 yards per attempt as Pete Carroll’s team finished with 39 pass dropbacks compared to only 14 running back runs. Wilson’s mid-range QB1 results in a tough road environment are a strong reminder of why he warrants matchup-proof respect. Vic Fangio’s Bears are far from a pushover but did cough up 286 yards and three TDs at 9.5 yards per attempt to one-legged Aaron Rodgers last Sunday night. … The Seahawks opened the year with a near-even backfield timeshare; Chris Carson (46%) narrowly out-snapped Rashaad Penny (44%) while Penny narrowly out-touched Carson, 11 to 10. They each drew five targets. Carson’s superior rushing efficiency (7/51/0 to 7/8/0) suggests he deserves to be the backfield leader, a notion Carroll concurred with publicly this week. “Chris I thought looked really good,” Carroll said. “He was really aggressive. Chris really took the lead at the position after that game.” Unfortunately, Carson’s Week 2 matchup is rough as a road dog facing a Chicago defense that held Packers backs to 17/54/3.18/0 rushing in its opener. Carson is a shaky RB2. Penny is unusable.

Wilson’s Week 1 target distribution: Brandon Marshall 6; Penny, Carson, and Will Dissly 5; Tyler Lockett 4; Jaron Brown 3; Nick Vannett 2. … Doug Baldwin’s MCL tear locks in Marshall, Lockett, and Brown as Seattle’s top-three wideouts. Lockett is Baldwin’s replacement in the slot, where Lockett ran 67% of his Week 1 routes. Chicago got flamed by Packers slot WR Randall Cobb (9/142/1) last week; PFF charged Bears slot CB Bryce Callahan with six receptions allowed on six targets. Lockett should be viewed as an every-week WR3. … Marshall drew a team-high three red-zone targets against the Broncos, although one was negated by his own offensive pass interference penalty. He converted another for a 20-yard score. Marshall is low on sexy factor but high on touchdown-scoring potential. For as long as Baldwin remains shelved, Marshall will stay on the WR4 radar. … With Lockett inside and Marshall in the possession role, Brown will operate as Seattle’s perimeter deep threat. He is a player to monitor after leading the team in Week 1 Air Yards (84). … The Bears played stingy tight end defense in 2017, then held Packers TEs Jimmy Graham and Lance Kendricks to a combined 3/21/0 receiving line on five targets. Although Dissly was the Week 1 hero, he was out-snapped by Vannett 61% to 58% and went quiet after gaining 81 yards in the first quarter alone. A fourth-round rookie out of Washington, Dissly caught only 25 passes and scored three touchdowns in college, then ran 4.87 at February’s NFL Combine. Primarily a blocker, it wouldn’t be surprising if Week 1 goes down as the best pass-catching game of Dissly’s career.

We and our partners use cookies on this site to improve our service, perform analytics, personalize advertising, measure advertising performance, and remember website preferences. By using the site, you consent to these cookies. for more information on cookies including how to manage your consent visit our cookie policy.